Album Review: Daybreak - Worn Down EP

Brighton has always been a hotbed of UK hardcore and its various genre spin-offs, and five-piece Daybreak, are the next band in that fruitful lineage. The ‘Worn Down’ EP represents the band’s first significant recorded output, and its six tracks point to a promising future for this youthful mob.

Whether or not you must have an Intro track as part of your EP in order to qualify as hardcore band remains to be seen, but needless to say Daybreak don’t take any chances. All jokes aside though, ‘Intro’ serves its purpose as just that, introducing the band’s sound in a moody and vibrant manner. Any illusions of Daybreak being an atmospheric post-rock band are soon shattered though when ‘Wasted Lies’ kicks in, in all its furious glory.

Vocally, Daybreak can be found somewhere between Gallows and Comeback Kid, though the comparisons are slightly more complex in terms of the bands music. At moments they sound like early-Thursday, whereas at other times they sound more like a paint-by-numbers hardcore band. For example, on the stonking ‘Cold’ despite the quality of the execution, for the majority of the song they could be any run-of-the-mill hardcore band, but the last thirty or so seconds of the track are much more exploratory, basking in doom.

Daybreak are at their best on final track ‘Half-Hearted’, which starts with the vocalist screaming over a sparse guitar line. The song successfully combines the bands split-identity to form a track that is progressive, fresh, and most importantly distinctly their own.

‘Worn Down’ is not quite the finished product. The feeling throughout is of a band not entirely confident in their own identity, yet there is enough skill on show to suggest that they should have more faith in themselves. If Daybreak can build on the best bits of this EP they will certainly become a band to watch out for.

4/5

'Worn Down' EP by Daybreak is available as a free download on Bandcamp.

Daybreak on Facebook and Tumblr.

Words by Dan Issitt